Isaiah 22:7

And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate. THY CHOICEST VALLEYS - east, north, and south of Jerusalem: Hinnom, on the south side, was the richest valley. IN ARRAY AT THE GATE - Rabshakeh stood at the upper pool close to the city (Isaiah 36:11)....

7._And the choice of the valleys _(84) _was full of chariots. _I do not find fault with the translation given by some interpreters, “in a chariot of horsemen,” but I have chosen rather to translate literally the words of the Prophet; for I think that he means “a military chariot.” At that time they made use of two kinds of chariots, one for carrying baggage, and another for the field of battle. Here he means those chariots in which the horsemen rode. Had it been a threatening, it would have been proper to translate it in the future tense, “And it shall be;” but as the words which immediately follow are in the past tense, and as there is reason to believe that the Prophet is relating events which have already taken place, I have not hesitated to make this beginning agree with what follows. “The choice of the valleys” means “the choicest valleys.” He reminds the Jews of those straits to wh...

1-7 Why is Jerusalem in such terror? Her slain men are not slain with the sword, but with famine; or, slain with fear, disheartened. Their rulers fled, but were overtaken. The servants of God, who foresee and warn sinners of coming miseries, are affected by the prospect. But all the horrors of a city taken by storm, faintly shadow forth the terrors of the day of wrath....

THY CHOICEST VALLEYS - Hebrew, ‘The choice of thy galleys;’ meaning the most fertile and most valued lands in the vicinity of the city. The rich and fertile vales around Jerusalem would be occupied by the armies of the Assyrian monarch. What occurs in this verse and the following verses to Isaiah 22:14, is a prophetic description of what is presented historically in Isaiah 36, and 2 Chronicles 32. The coincidence is so exact, that it leaves no room to doubt that the invasion here described was that which took place under Sennacherib. SET THEMSELVES IN ARRAY - Hebrew, ‘Placing shall place themselves;’ that is, they shall be drawn up for battle; they shall b

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 22:1 A PROPHECY AGAINST JERUSALEM. The prophet, present in Jerusalem, either actually, or at any rate in spirit, _sees _the inhabitants crowded together upon the housetops, in a state of boisterous merriment (Isaiah 22:1, Isaiah 22:2). Outside the walls is a foreign army threatening the town (Isaiah 22:5). Preparations have been made for resistance, which are described (Isaiah 22:8); but there has been no turning to God. On the contrary, the dange

AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, [THAT] THY CHOICEST VALLEYS,.... The valleys that were near Jerusalem, that used to be covered with the choicest corn or vines, or with grass and flocks of sheep, and used to be exceeding delightful and pleasant: SHALL BE FULL OF CHARIOTS; where they can be more easily driven than on mountains; these were chariots not for pleasure, but for war; chariots full of soldiers, to fight against and besiege Jerusalem: AND THE HORSEMEN SHALL SET THEMSELVES IN ARRAY AT THE GATE: to take them that come out of the city, and to force their way into it; as well as to protect and defend the foot, while they made the assault, and scaled the walls, and to be ready when the gates were opened to them....

CHAPTER 22 The Burden of the Valley of Vision (Jerusalem) 1. _Jerusalem's deplorable state (Isaiah 22:1)_ 2. _The invading armies (Isaiah 22:5)_ 3. _The siege and the calamity (Isaiah 22:8)_ 4. _Shebna (Isaiah 22:15)_ 5. _Eliakim (Isaiah 22:20)_ This is another intensely interesting prophecy. Jerusalem has passed through many sieges and at last in part the prophecy has been fulfilled. But there is another siege of Jerusalem impending. It will come after the message of the fall of the final Babylon. See...

JERUSALEM'S INEXCUSABLE FRIVOLITY. The prophecy apparently belongs to the time of Sennacherib's invasion. Its menacing tone contrasts with that of some other prophecies of the time. The people had provoked Isaiah's sternest anger by giving themselves up to festivity. Probably this was after the siege had been raised, either temporarily or when Sennacherib's army had been withdrawn after the disaster recorded in Isaiah 37:36. In the reaction caused by this relief the inhabitants recklessly surrendered themselves to riotous merriment, recognising (Isaiah 22:13) that they might still be doomed to die. The valley of vision cannot be Jerusalem itself, for it was no valley, but must be some valley in the neighbourhood. It seems to mean the valley concerning which the vision was seen. The prophet is amazed a

AT. toward....

Isaiah 22:1-14. The inexpiable sin of Jerusalem The key to this passage the most lurid and minatory of all Isaiah's prophecies is the irreconcileable antagonism between the mood of the prophet and the state of public feeling around him. In a time of universal mirth and festivity he alone is overwhelmed with grief and refuses to be comforted. In the rejoicings of the populace he reads the evidence of their hopeless impenitence and insensibility, and he concludes his discourse by expressing the conviction that at last they have sinned beyond the possibility of pardon. The circumstances recall our Lord's lamentation over Jerusalem on the day of His triumphal entry (Luke 19:41 ff.). It may be regarded as certain that the prophecy belongs to the period of Sennacherib's invasion (701), although it is dif